Disposable Drug Cartridges Changing the Injectable Therapeutics Landscape

(Amherst, NH) – As drug injection devices evolve, they are increasingly being designed to accommodate disposable drug cartridges. Because of the inherent advantages they possess, the number of devices and drug therapies that rely on prefilled drug cartridges has been growing, both within established therapeutic segments and by expanding into new injectable drug therapies.

Prefilled disposable drug cartridges made their market debut as a convenient way for diabetics to administer insulin. Disposable devices that come with a prefilled insulin cartridge are discarded when the insulin is used up. For reusable devices, the cartridge is replaced. Devices with prefilled insulin cartridges are sold by insulin makers Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Aventis.

Disposable drug cartridges provide a number of advantages across the combination drug-device stakeholder chain, an ecosystem that includes device suppliers, drug developers, caregivers and patients. Prefilled cartridges and syringes contain the exact deliverable dose desired. Pharmaceutical manufacturers overfill vials by up to 25%, especially if the desired dose is very small, to ensure that the user may withdraw the desired dose. This overfill of vials allows the possibility of dosing errors that are eliminated with prefilled syringes. Elimination of the need to overfill reduces waste of product. This is particularly important for product families that are extremely costly to manufacture, such as biotech drugs.

Product branding is another factor driving the growth of drug cartridges. A number of companies have embraced the use of visually customized injection devices as a way to build, reinforce and grow their brands in the face of competition from generics and biosimilars. For high cost-per-dose drugs – typically recombinant proteins - the investment in a customized prefilled disposable or cartridge-replaceable injection device often makes good business sense for drug companies, providing the added benefit of visual product differentiation in the direct-to-consumer marketing era.

These findings are contained in a new assessment conducted and prepared by Greystone Research Associates. Drug Injection Devices to 2020 provides analysis and assessments of disposable drug cartridges across a range of injectable device categories, and examines their impact on injectable drugs and combination products, therapeutic markets, and market participants.

More information is available at http://www.greystoneassociates.org

Source: Greystone Research Associates

About Greystone

Greystone Research Associates is a medical technology consulting firm focused on the areas of medical market strategy, product commercialization, venture development, and market research. We assist medical and healthcare market participants in achieving their business objectives through the creation of detailed development strategies, product commercialization programs, and comprehensive market and technology research and analysis. Our market research publications are designed, researched and written to provide timely and insightful information and data on focused market segments, with the aim of providing market participants with the essential knowledge to refine and execute their marketing plans and financial targets.

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Greystone Research Associates
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